


i need you so much closer

by deepbutdazzlingdarkness



Series: the thirst is real [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Biting, Blow Jobs, Established Relationship, Love Confessions, M/M, Morning Sex, Post-Season/Series 01, Reunion Sex, Riding, Rimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 12:15:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6984688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepbutdazzlingdarkness/pseuds/deepbutdazzlingdarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Work has been keeping Alec and Magnus apart for a couple of weeks and once they finally see each other again, Alec can barely control himself. </p><p>AKA the first time they have sex at the Institute. Also the first time they say "I love you".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is my favorite thing I've written so far? It was inspired in large part by [this](http://deepbutdazzlingdarkness.tumblr.com/post/144845094874/different-anon-my-kink-malec-having-sex-in) lovely [anon](http://deepbutdazzlingdarkness.tumblr.com/post/144869900889/institute-kink-anon-yooooo-yes-everything-you), so thank you!

The first time they have sex at the Institute, it's...well, not an _accident_ (“What, did you trip and fall on Magnus's dick?” Alec can easily hear someone like Izzy snort), but it certainly isn’t planned.

Alec hasn’t seen Magnus in person for almost two weeks, which is the longest amount of time they’ve spent apart since they first got together, and it’s killing him. Magnus has been off around the world visiting with various circles of warlocks, trying to enlist their help in fighting what is rapidly becoming a war, and Alec’s had his hands full running the Institute alongside Lydia and dealing with all the newly created Shadowhunters that Valentine is constantly sending to fight them.

As a result, all of their interactions from the past 12 days (and 10 hours and 36 seconds…not that he’s counting) have been via texts and calls and more than a few Skype sessions that still make Alec hot under the collar to think about. And while that’s better than nothing, it’s not the same thing as physical contact.

According to Magnus’s most recent estimate, he’s supposed to be back in New York within a day or two, so when Alec looks up from his tablet to see his boyfriend walking towards him, talking animatedly with Izzy, he’s not entirely sure his Magnus-deprived brain isn’t hallucinating the whole thing. As the pair gets closer, Alec can see that no, it actually is Magnus, and he grins so hard it almost hurts.

“Magnus!” exclaims Alec as he gets to his feet, his voice loud enough to carry clear across the ops center. Quite a few people turn around at the disturbance, but Alec doesn’t have eyes for anyone but Magnus.

“ _Hello_ , Alexander,” Magnus says with a smile as they walk towards each other. “I got back earlier than expected, so I thought instead of calling, I’d just surprise you, with the help of your sister, of course,” he adds, gesturing towards Izzy, who’d presumably let him through the wards.

“I…yeah, t-this is a surprise for sure,” Alec stutters, his voice going up at the end like it so often does around Magnus.

“But a good one?” Magnus asks teasingly.

“ _Always_ ,” Alec states emphatically, his eyes going towards Magnus’s mouth. All he can think about is kissing his boyfriend, and by now they’re standing within arms length of each other, so all he needs to do is take one step closer, then lean down and—but Alec remembers just in time where they are.

While he really doesn’t care about what people might think about his and Magnus’s relationship, Alec has a feeling that once he touches Magnus he’s not gonna be able to stop, so he manages to control himself before he does something that will inevitably cause him to an erection right there in the middle of the Institute.

Still looking at at Magnus’s lips, which are now turned up at the sides in amusement as he watches Alec’s struggle, Alec groans, and instead of kissing Magnus, he just says softly, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Magnus responds immediately. They stand there staring into each other’s eyes for who knows how long, Alec trying to resist the urge to sway closer, until Izzy coughs conspicuously and Alec comes back to himself.

Putting himself back in head-of-Institute mode, he tells Magnus, “So, we should probably, y’know, debrief,” pointing at the monitor behind him. Technically, Magnus hadn’t been on an official mission, especially not one for the Shadowhunters, but if he’d been able to rally the warlocks, it was important for them to know.

“Well, if you insist, darling,” Magnus drawls, eyeing Alec up and down. “It’s been _far_ too long since I last saw you without a shirt on.”

“ _Magnus!_ ” 

“What?” he asks innocently. “You said it not me.” At this, Alec’s ears start to turn red as Izzy laughs. He hadn’t even meant it as an innuendo, but now that Magnus put the idea into his head…but no, work comes first, no matter how much he wants to throw Magnus against the nearest flat surface and—Alec stops that train of thought right where it is.

“Pity,” Magnus tuts, “Your bare chest always cheers me up.”

“That bad, huh?” Alec asks warily. 

“Catarina and Tessa have said they’ll do what they can to help, though they don’t want to get directly involved,” Magnus sighs. “But the none of the other warlocks I’ve met with will even entertain the possibility of going up against Valentine.”

Alec gets it; Valentine is still actively hunting warlocks and he can’t blame them for wanting to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Still, he’d been hoping for Magnus to have more success, as they’re going to need all the help they can get.

“Speaking of which,” Izzy finally chimes in, looking up from her phone, “Lydia just texted me saying she’s gotten some reports of suspicious activity down by the docks. Jace and Clary are already on their way; I’m gonna go head out to meet them.”

“Let me go grab my bow and I’ll join you,” Alec says right away, setting aside his disappointment about barely getting to see Magnus for five minutes before work got in the way again. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it big bro, I think the three of us can handle it,” Izzy responds, patting Alec reassuringly on the shoulder. “You deserve a night off. And anyway, you two have a _debrief_ to get to, right?” she finishes with a wink, her voice loaded with insinuations.

“I—thank you, Izzy.” Normally Alec would put up more of a fight, but he can’t bring himself to even try and act like he wants to go hunting tonight.

Once the sound of Izzy’s heels disappears, Magnus turns to Alec and murmurs, “Lead the way, Alexander.”

Forgetting discretion, Alec takes Magnus’s hand and practically drags him back to the private wing where his bedroom is. As soon as they get into the hallway, Alec grabs the front of Magnus’s shirt and pushes him against the wall, shoving his tongue down Magnus’s throat. 

Magnus responds instantly, kissing Alec back just as enthusiastically while he runs his hands through Alec’s hair. Alec moans into his mouth as the feeling of Magnus tugging at his scalp goes straight to his dick. He wants his hair pulled harder, preferably while Magnus is fucking him, or at least while he’s sucking Magnus off, but as it is, Alec is already ridiculously aroused.

Alec eventually pulls away, breathing heavily. “I’ve been wanting to do that for two weeks,” he smiles, resting his forehead against Magnus’s. 

“I can tell,” Magnus smirks, looking down at the bulge in Alec’s pants. He brings his hands down to rest on Alec’s lower back, before sliding them into the back pockets of Alec’s jeans. “What do you want to do now?” 

“You know what I want,” Alec pants, rutting against the hard line of Magnus’s thigh.

“Should we take this back to my place?”

“N-no, with everyone else out, I probably shouldn't leave. But um,” Alec bites his lip, avoiding Magnus’s heated gaze, “My room is the third door on the left. It isn’t much, but there’s a bed…”

“Good enough for me,” Magnus grins. Alec doesn’t usually bother to lock his door while he’s home, so in a manner of seconds, they’re inside and Magnus has him pushed up against it, kissing him fiercely. “God, I missed this,” he says once they pause to take a breath.

Magnus runs his hand over Alec’s jawline, feeling the scruff that has already grown since he last shaved this morning, before moving down to Alec’s neck, pressing his thumb into the throbbing pulse point there. Next, Magnus fiddles with the top button on Alec’s shirt, and upon getting a nod of consent, he slowly unbuttons it, brushing his fingertips along Alec’s torso as skin is revealed.

“Mmm, I feel better already,” Magnus smirks as he spreads his hands possessively across Alec’s chest, squeezing the hard muscle there. Alec gasps at the skin-to-skin contact and thrusts his hips forward, trying to hint to Magnus where he _really_ wants to be touched.

Magnus ignores him while he pushes the button-down off of Alec’s shoulders, discarding it on the floor. After what seems like forever, eventually he moves on to Alec’s belt, easily removing it. Alec has his eyes closed by this point, head resting back on the door, but he can still feel Magnus watching intently as he unzips Alec’s jeans and shoves them down. He rubs his hand across the erection tenting Alec’s boxer briefs, and Alec’s cock jumps when Magnus reaches inside to wrap his fingers around it.

“Look at you, already so hard for me,” Magnus muses approvingly, lightly stroking the soft skin of his shaft, and Alec feels like he could come any minute, just from those words and Magnus’s barely-there touch.

After a minute or so of Magnus’s gentle ministrations, Alec realizes that while he’s pretty much naked, his boyfriend is _far_ too clothed for what he has planned. Well, not that they can’t have sex while Magnus is still mostly dressed: in fact, that’s one of Alec’s favorite fantasies, but it’s been _weeks_ , he wants to feel all of Magnus against all of him.

Opening his eyes, Alec gropes for Magnus’s waist, un-tucking his shirttails and running his hands up the sides of Magnus’s torso, drawing him closer and laying kisses along the underside of his jaw. While Magnus is distracted, Alec reaches for the button of his pants, but before he can get further than that, a hand stops him.

“Down, boy,” Magnus smirks when Alec protests. “Let’s take this to a more horizontal surface.” He steps back and lets Alec take his jeans off before turning him around, pushing Alec towards the bed with a swat on the ass.

Once Alec arranges himself comfortably (or at least as comfortably as he can get on his lumpy mattress; Magnus’s bed has apparently spoiled him), leaning back on his elbows, legs spread wide, he demands, “Take your _clothes_ off, Magnus,” in what he hopes isn’t too whiny a voice.

Magnus has already removed his jacket, neatly folding it and setting it on Alec’s desk, but he’s still wearing a pair of sinfully tight black pants and a deep purple silk shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, and as much as Alec appreciates the view, really he does, he wants Magnus _now_.

“I love seeing you so desperate, Alexander,” Magnus says with a self-satisfied smile as Alec growls in frustration. “Maybe I should go away more often, if this is the homecoming you’re going to give me.”

“ _No!_ ” Alec says immediately. “Don’t even _think_ about it.” After a pause, he continues, “And _how_ can you be so calm about this?" 

“Well, to begin with, I’ve gone more than two weeks without sex before,” Magnus laughs as he starts to unbutton the rest of his shirt. “But believe me, darling, our time apart was torture for me too. I don’t know how I would have survived without the _wonders_ of modern technology.”

Alec flushes at the reminder. They hadn’t had to resort to phone sex before Magnus’s trip, and while it was definitely awkward at first, he ended up liking it much more than he expected to, even if Magnus had to do most of the talking.

“Speaking of modern technology,” Magnus continues, “How did you like those toys I sent you?”

Alec doesn’t process the question at first, too busy paying rapt attention to Magnus _finally_ peeling his pants off, so at ease in Alec’s room, even while completely naked. When his brain catches up, Alec gets even redder. “I think you know,” he mumbles.

The day after Magnus left, a discretely wrapped package had appeared in Alec’s bedroom filled with certain items that he’d never dare purchase himself (after all, not even six months ago he was still getting embarrassed buying lube), but thankfully Magnus had no such qualms. Just thinking about their most recent Skype session, which involved several Soundless runes and a magically enhanced vibrator had Alec squirming against his rough sheets, pre-come beading at the tip of his erection.

“Oh, I do,” Magnus chuckles darkly, “And one of these days you’re going to show me _just_ how much you like them. Especially that dildo, hmm? I imagine the picture quality on my phone is _dreadful_ in comparison to the real thing. But today…well, I think we’ve waited long enough.”

“That better mean you’re actually going to fuck me now, or else you can leave and I’ll take care of it myself.” Alec snaps, so turned on that he can’t bring himself to care how rude he must sound.

“Patience, my dear,” Magnus says, walking up to stand in between Alec’s legs, running his hands up and down Alec’s thighs soothingly. “You know perfectly well we can’t just go from zero to fucking, no matter how much you might wish we could. Although of course, being a warlock means I am able to speed up the process a _bit_.”

Nudging Alec further back on the bed, Magnus kneels on top of him, leaning down and giving him a quick kiss. Alec pulls him closer, hands wrapping around the nape of his neck, urging Magnus’s tongue into his mouth. At the same time, Magnus snaps his fingers and Alec immediately feels lube cool and slippery inside him.

“How—” Alec gasps before his train of thought is cut off as Magnus easily slips a finger into him, the warmth of his body heat contrasting with the still cold lube.

“Let’s just say that four hundred years has given me lots of time to…experiment with my magic,” Magnus grins. “I’m somewhat of an expert when it comes to things like this.”

Alec lays back, unable to concentrate on anything other than how good Magnus is with his hands and how much better he is with his cock when suddenly it occurs to him— “The-the door,” he pants worriedly, “I forgot to lock it.”

“Not a problem,” Magnus smiles, waving his hand and sending a stream of blue magic towards it. “All good, no one’s getting in here even if they try to break the door down. Would you like a silencing spell as well?” he asks a moment later.

“I— _no_ ,” Alec answers, grinding down on Magnus’s hand as he adds another finger. “I can be quiet.”

“If you say so, darling,” Magnus responds amusedly, sounding like he doesn’t quite believe him. Alec huffs at that. Sure, he can get rather…vocal at times, but it’s not like he hasn’t gotten off by himself without needing Soundless runes, so it’ll be fine. And anyway, they should have the whole wing to themselves for at least a few hours so there’s no one to overhear them anyway.

After that pause, Magnus continues to open him up, sending sparks of pleasure up Alec’s spine as he delves deep inside, rubbing hot fingertips against his prostate as Alec bites down hard on his lip, trying to contain the moans that want to come out.

Before too long, Alec has had _enough_ and grabs his own lube from under his pillow to slick Magnus up. “I need you _now_ ,” Alec says breathlessly, using his strength to flip Magnus onto his back. He hovers over Magnus for a few seconds and then he slides down, letting out little whimpers as he adjusts to the familiar feeling of Magnus’s cock splitting him open, filling him up like nothing else.

They’ve never done it this way before, with Alec on top, but being able to control the pace, the depth, and how hard he wants it is something he _loves_ , so much it’s overwhelming. Alec is so keyed up after all the teasing and how long it’s been that it just takes one deep thrust, the head of Magnus’s cock dragging right across his prostate, and he’s coming untouched, white streams of come covering Magnus’s chest.

Alec is able to muffle his scream just in time, managing to cover his mouth with the hand that isn’t helping him balance himself, and when he takes it away, he sees white teeth marks stamped into his palm. Breathing heavily, Alec pushes sweaty hair off his forehead and leans down to give Magnus a sloppy kiss, moaning again as he changes positions, Magnus still hard inside of him.

“That was the hottest thing I have ever seen,” Magnus says, breathing almost as heavily as Alec, eyes glassy and bright yellow with black slitted pupils. Alec doesn’t know when he dropped the glamour, but it usually means Magnus is out of control, something he’s always happy to be the cause of.

“How have we never done that before?” Alec wonders aloud. He’s definitely going to be trying it again soon, when hopefully he’ll be able to last longer. Now though…

“You wanna keep riding me, baby?” Magnus asks a moment later, slapping him on the ass, causing Alec to clench down on his cock.

“N-no,” Alec moans. Right now he just wants it hard and fast and to be driven into the mattress until he comes again—and judging by the hungry look on Magnus’s face, apparently Alec was saying all of that out loud, but he doesn’t even have time to feel embarrassed because before he knows it, he’s on his stomach, face pressed into his pillow and he can feel the full weight of Magnus on top of him, covering every inch of Alec’s body that he’s able to reach.

While Magnus is rearranging them, his cock slips out, and Alec hisses when he slides a knee between Alec’s thighs, prodding them apart. Alec says a quick thank you to himself for applying that flexibility rune the other day as he spreads his legs as wide as he can.

“So good for me,” he hears Magnus say with a smile in his voice, and then he pushes back inside, as deep as he can go. A tongue licks a hot trail along Alec’s neck and when Magnus sinks his teeth into Alec’s shoulder, he can feel himself getting hard again already, cock swelling up against his leg where it’s trapped.

Magnus fucks into him relentlessly, their bodies slapping together, slippery with sweat, and all Alec can to do is lay there and take it, gladly. Eventually, he feels the pace start to get more erratic, and Alec manages to raise himself up onto his elbows, thrusting his ass in the air to meet Magnus halfway and push back onto his cock.

After another minute or so, Magnus comes with one final thrust, holding himself still with his hands braced on either side of Alec. He’s able to orgasm much more quietly, although Alec has a feeling that unlike his hand, the teeth marks in his neck aren’t going to disappear within a few minutes.

“Holy shit,” Alec laughs shakily as Magnus pulls out and lays down next to him. “That was…”

“Top five for sure,” Magnus finishes, looking tired but oh-so-happy.

“Definitely,” Alec agrees, eyes roaming all over his boyfriend, part of him still surprised that Magnus is actually here. Here in New York, and here in Alec’s own bed, something he never thought would happen all those months ago when he first started fantasizing about Magnus.

“Oh, you’re still hard,” Magnus notices, and Alec looks down to see that oh yeah, he hasn’t come again yet; even with the roughness of his sheets, he hadn’t been able to produce enough friction to get himself off, and in any case, he’d been distracted by better things.

Alec is about to tell Magnus it’s fine, he’s too fucked out to do anything but lie there until he regains his strength, but before he can, Magnus says, “Allow me,” and Alec certainly isn’t going to argue with whatever he wants to do.

Magnus turns Alec back onto his stomach and as he presses his face into his pillow again, Alec braces himself, expecting the blunt pressure of fingers, but instead he feels hands spread his ass and a warm breath tickle his hole and— “Oh my _god_ ,” Alec shouts into his pillow, because that’s…that’s Magnus’s _tongue_ sliding through the come and lube leaking out of him.

Magnus has done this a few times before, but always as a precursor to fucking, never _afterwards_ , and it makes Alec feel _obscene_ , but he can’t get enough of it. Magnus is alternating between little kitten licks and wide, broad sweeps of his tongue, and when he curls the tip and pushes it _inside_ , that’s all Alec needs to let go, feeling come spread across the sheets under him as he bites down on his pillow so hard that he’s almost grinding his teeth together, the lower half of his body writhing wildly as Magnus holds him steadily through the comedown. 

“You liked that, huh?” Magnus asks smugly, crawling up to rest his head next to Alec’s, and all Alec can do is nod weakly.

“D’you wanna spend the night?” Alec mumbles once he’s recovered a bit, although he still can’t entirely feel his legs. It might be a risky thing to do, but Alec doesn’t care. He’s spent too many nights from Magnus as it is, if anyone has a problem with his presence here in the morning, they’re just going to have to get over it.

“I’d love nothing more,” Magnus smiles, wrapping his arms around Alec’s middle and entwining their legs together.

 “I love _you_ , Magnus,” Alec says with a yawn, and before he has time to freak out about this being the first time he’s dropped that bomb and the possible bad timing of it, whether Magnus is going to say it back or not, etc., Alec nuzzles into Magnus’s neck, a contented smile on his face and falls asleep, never wanting to be apart from the man he loves again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several people were asking me why Magnus didn't say I love you back at the original end of this story, so I thought I'd write a little coda to satisfy them, and myself. Enjoy!

Magnus wakes slowly, eyes adjusting to his unfamiliar surroundings. Last night, Alec had been so…single-minded that he hadn’t had a chance to pay attention to much of anything other than the bed. Not that Magnus has a problem with Alec’s enthusiasm, of course, just the opposite in fact: there’s nothing he likes more than seeing his normally stoic and serious boyfriend let his guard down and shamelessly go after what he wants, especially if what he wants is Magnus.

Turning onto his side, Magnus lightly runs his fingernails down Alec’s back, not hard enough to leave marks, even temporarily, but enough that Alec shivers a bit in his sleep, hips shifting underneath him. It’s not often that Magnus wakes up first: unlike Alec, he is decidedly _not_ a morning person, so when such moments arise, he always makes sure to savor them, as seeing Alec so calm and relaxed is something that rarely happens while he is awake.

It’s early enough that the sun is only barely shining through the stained glass window that takes up most of one of the walls, scattering beams of colorful light across the blank canvas of Alec’s gloriously naked body. He’s sprawled on his stomach, head resting on one of his bent arms, and at some point during the night Alec must have kicked the sheets off, because they’re pushed all the way down to his knees, exposing the rounded swell of his ass.

After a few more peaceful minutes lounging in Alec’s bed and watching him sleep, Magnus starts to realize that he’d been so caught up the night before that he went to bed without taking off his makeup, and judging by the burning sensation in his eyes, he’s paying for that now. He carefully shifts closer to the edge of the bed, trying to get up without waking Alec.

“Mmm, don’t go,” Alec mumbles halfway into his pillow, reaching blindly for Magnus and managing to pat him on the chest. So apparently Alec’s already awake, just not enough to want to open his eyes.

Magnus settles back down, letting Alec wrap a strong arm around him. “Good morning beautiful,” he says softly once Alec finally opens his eyes.

“Right back atcha,” Alec smiles, giving Magnus a little kiss on the nose. 

“Did you sleep well?” Magnus asks, running a hand through the hair falling down on Alec’s forehead.

“Mmm, better than I have in _weeks_. I don’t sleep well without you,” he admits with a yawn, and Magnus can see now that the dark circles under Alec’s eyes do seem more pronounced than usual.

“Well, your lumpy mattress certainly can’t help in that regard,” Magnus says practically. Part of the reason he woke up so early is because of how uncomfortable that thing is. “If I’m going to be spending more time here, I insist on replacing it with something much more comfortable.” 

“You want to spend time _here_?” Alec asks, sounding skeptical. 

“Well, despite how drab it is, I can think of several very good reasons.” Magnus leans in to give his boyfriend a very thorough kiss, smiling at the hiss Alec lets out when Magnus tugs at his bottom lip with his teeth. Apparently Alec had bitten his lip hard enough to draw blood last night, if the slightly metallic taste in Magnus’s mouth now is anything to go by.

Pulling away, Magnus moves lower, gently scraping his teeth over the hickey he left at the nape of Alec’s neck, and Alec moans, “You want me to heal this, baby?” he murmurs into Alec’s ear, “It is rather _conspicuous_.”

“No,” Alec whispers, cheeks pink, “I like having it there.”

“So do I,” Magnus grins, pressing his thumb into the bruised skin. “This way, everyone knows that you’re _taken_ , by someone with wonderful taste if I do say so myself.”

At the hint of pain combined with Magnus’s words, Alec grinds harder into the mattress. “Need a hand with that, darling?” he asks nonchalantly, pushing Alec onto his back and gripping his growing erection. After a few strokes, Magnus leans down and licks around his fingers before wrapping his lips around the tip of Alec’s cock, sucking gently.

Alec groans at this, throwing his head back against the pillow, and Magnus pulls off with a smirk. “Now, now, Alexander, you don’t want to wake anyone up, do you?”

“You’re gonna kill me one of these days, Magnus,” Alec chuckles weakly, but he manages to keep quiet as Magnus slowly sucks him off, letting out little moans and whimpers only loud enough for their ears. It’s not long before Magnus can tell Alec’s orgasm is approaching and he takes him deeper, swallowing as Alec comes down his throat.

“God, I love you,” Alec says as Magnus crawls back up next to him. “I-I mean, not because of what you just did, though of course that was great, but I just. I love you. I know I already said it last night but I was half asleep and I’m completely awake now, and you don’t have to say it back if you don’t want to, but you were gone for two weeks and I missed you so much and I can’t let another day go by without you knowing how I feel, even if you don’t feel the same way.” Alec’s eyes go wide as he finishes his impromptu speech, apparently having surprised himself just as much as he’s surprised Magnus.

“Oh, Alexander,” Magnus manages to say through the lump in his throat, stroking Alec’s cheek. “My silly, dear Alexander. I love you, too.”

“You do?” Alec asks, a smile slowly spreading across his face, as if he hadn’t been expecting that answer.

“Of _course_ I do,” Magnus says determinedly. Granted, he’d been too caught off guard by Alec’s declaration last night to say anything right away, and given how quickly Alec fell asleep afterwards, Magnus hadn’t been sure if Alec even realized what he said. As such, Magnus hasn’t been planning on bringing it up himself, despite the fact that he’s pretty sure he’s loved Alec since before they even got together. But now that Alec has reiterated himself (multiple times!), and in such an adorably ramble-y yet utterly committed way, Magnus is _finally_ free to say it back.

“I. love. you,” Magnus repeats, kissing Alec between each word before tucking his head into Alec’s neck, trying to hide the fact that he’s tearing up a bit. “More than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything in my life.”

“Well…good,” is how Alec responds, apparently out of words now, and he turns Magnus’s face back towards him, wiping away a few stray tears that escaped.

“Oh, God.” Magnus is saying before he can stop himself, finally remembering what he’d been about to do before Alec woke up, “I must look like such a mess.” He’s horrified by the thought; his eyeliner is probably even more smudged than it was a few minutes ago, and now he _really_ needs to take care of his face.

“Nonsense,” Alec says sweetly, and it’s nice of him, proof that he must really love Magnus, honestly, but…

“I need a shower,” Magnus declares, sitting up and detangling himself from Alec’s long limbs. “And so do you,” he laughs, poking at Alec’s stomach where evidence of what they did last night remains. 

“Want me to wash your back?” Alec asks cheekily, reminding Magnus of that encounter all those months ago when he first saw Alec shirtless.

“I’ll do yours if you do mine,” Magnus smirks as he heads towards the bathroom, not bothering to check if Alec is following him or not. “That is, if we can both actually fit in this tiny shower of yours,” he calls back once he sees how small it is. That’s another thing Magnus is going to have to fix if he plans on spending any considerable amount of time here.

“I think we can manage,” Alec’s voice suddenly says into his ear, “We’ll just have to get all…close and personal,” he continues, hugging Magnus from behind. 

“No more distracting me,” Magnus laughs, pushing him away. “You’ve already done that enough this morning. Why don’t you start the shower and I’ll join you as soon as I take care of _this_ ,” he finishes, indicating towards his face.

Magnus snaps his fingers, producing a package of makeup wipes, and as he starts to remove his old makeup, Alec steps into the shower. This is a routine of theirs that happens more frequently at night, but it always feels nice and domestic, like they’ve been together for years and not just barely six months at this point. 

As he’s finishing up, Magnus realizes suddenly that he could do this for the rest of his life, that he _wants_ to, that the location doesn’t matter: whether they’re here at the Institute or at home in his much more spacious apartment, all he needs is Alec and he’ll be happy. 

Smiling to himself, Magnus climbs into the shower, pressing up against Alec’s already wet and soapy body (perhaps even a little more closely than the cramped space requires, but Alec certainly isn’t complaining), feeling like today is going to be a great day. And even if it isn’t, he has the man he loves and who loves him, and that’s enough to make up for whatever anyone wants to throw at them outside the four walls of Alec’s bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost made myself cry writing this? Apparently them loving each other is overwhelming to me IDEK.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feel free to leave kudos and comments, and you can talk to and/or follow me at any time on [tumblr](http://deepbutdazzlingdarkness.tumblr.com/)! :D


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